Stroke is a major cause of disability and the long-term effects of stroke often lead to need of rehabilitation services. It has been shown that intensive stroke unit care and functional exercises are beneficial in the acute rehabilitation of stroke. The duration of the rehabilitation of patients with acute stroke is decreasing, leaving patients with not complete recovery at discharge in need of follow-up services. There is a general assumption that physical exercises are beneficial at all stages of stroke but it is questionable if these benefits are sustained after treatment ends. There are, to our knowledge, no longitudinal studies of non-interrupted regular physical exercises from the acute phase till one year post stroke.